In the #1 Bestselling SOMETHING STARTLING HAPPENS: THE 120 STORY BEATS EVERY WRITER NEEDS TO KNOW, author and screenwriter, Todd Klick, explores the universal minute-by-minute beats that unite all great stories.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

KUNG FU PANDA HITS ALL THE BEATS!

Did you know that the wildly successful KUNG FU PANDA (which raked in over a billion dollars for both movies) hits every one of the SOMETHING STARTLING HAPPENS story beats? All successful stories do. Thought I'd share them with you:

MINUTE 1: ATTENSION!
The hero is threatened inside a restaurant MINUTE 2: THE BUILD
The hero fights thousands of foes MINUTE 3: THE RATCHET
Turns out he’s not a hero after all—he’s just an overweight pandaMINUTE 4: ANOTHER NOTCH
Po’s father wants him to take over the restaurant, but Panda doesn’t want toMINUTE 5: JAW DROPPER
We see an old turtle levitating on a staff, a jaw-dropping sight!MINUTE 6: FRIEND OR FIST
Shifu meet his old friend, Master Oogway, in the temple (Friend)MINUTE 7: FRIEND OR FIST 2
Shifu argues with Master Oogway about what to do about Tai Lung (Fist)MINUTE 8: SOMETHING STARTLING HAPPENS
The gong sounds! Master Oogway is choosing The Dragon Warrior today!MINUTE 9: THE PURSUIT
Po heads towards the temple to see who they will chooseMINUTE 10: THE DISCUSSION
Shifu and Master Oogway discuss this historic dayMINUTE 11: THE WARNING

Oogway warns grumpy Shifu that whoever wins will bring peace to himMINUTE 12: HARSHER WARNING
“Citizens, you have not seen anything yet!” A warning to Po that he better find a way inside MINUTE 13: THE SUBMISSION
Po falls onto his back and lays there, stunnedMINUTE 14: DANGER WATCH
Po sees his father approaching
Seated Po watches the fuse close in on the fireworksMINUTE 15: WHEW, THAT WAS CLOSE!
Po survives the great fall MINUTE 16: THE BIG CONCERN
Master Oogway chooses Po to be Dragon Master, which causes great concern!MINUTE 17: WORLD UPSIDE DOWN
Commander Vachir intimidates Zeng MINUTE 18: TROUBLE TURN
Commander Vachir takes Zeng deep into the prison to see Tai LungMINUTE 19: THE THREAT
Tai Lung’s wakes upMINUTE 20: PUSH BACK
Po says, “There’s been a slight mistake” MINUTE 21: THE GREAT AFFECT
Shifu tells Po he won’t become The Dragon Warrior unless he learns the secret of The Dragon ScrollMINUTE 22: TRUTH DECLARED
“You’re going to wish {Master Oogway} hadn’t {chosen you},” Shifu tells PoMINUTE 23: SCARY STUFF
A piece of wood strikes Po’s faceMINUTE 24: SCARY STUFF 2
Shifu asks Po to show The Furious Five what he can doMINUTE 25: SCARY STUFF 3
The training equipment batters PoMINUTE 26: THE BIG UNEXPECTED
The training course severely burns PoMINUTE 27: THE MINI-QUEST
Po tries to sneak down the hallMINUTE 28: BIG QUEST PREP
Po talks with Crane (trying to become friends for upcoming training)MINUTE 29: BIG QUEST PREP 2
Po speaks with Tigress (trying to become friends for upcoming training)MINUTE 30: THE NEED
Po needs to learn not to be a quitterMINUTE 31: DISTRESS SIGNAL
Commander Vachir and Zeng see Tai Lung escaping!MINUTE 32: ANXIETY AMP
Zeng sees that Tai Lung can’t be contained!MINUTE 33: OMINOUS OH NO!
Tai Lung easily defeats Commander Vachi’s guardsMINUTE 34: FRIEND AFFECT
Commander Vachi’s actions affect Zeng’s missionMINUTE 35: BAIT & SWITCH
It seems like they have defeated Tai Lung, but he climbs up the falling debrisMINUTE 36: HIDE & SEEK
Shifu enters Po’s bedroom, but he’s not there. Where is he?MINUTE 37: OVER HIS HEAD
The Furious Five beat up Po—he’s way over his head during trainingMINUTE 38: POSITIVE RECONNECT
The Furious Five notice that Po is not quittingMINUTE 39: NEW JOURNEY BOND
Po, Mantis and Viper bond with Po during acupunctureMINUTE 40: ALLY’S WORLD
We see a flashback of a once-nice Shifu training young Tai lungMINUTE 41: THORNY ROSE
Shifu loved Tai Lung, but Tai Lung turned badMINUTE 42: SURPRISE REVEAL
Mantis reveals that he may have stopped Po’s heart MINUTE 43: SURPRISE REVEAL 2
Master Oogway tells Shifu he will not fulfill his destiny unless he lets go of “the illusion of control”MINUTE 44: NEW NEWS
Master Oogway tells Shifu he “needs belief”MINUTE 45: OUT OF THE ORDINARY
Master Oogway dies and leaves the templeMINUTE 46: THE REVELATION
The Furious Five realize that Po is an incredible cookMINUTE 47: THE ESCORT
The Furious Five laugh at Po’s jokes (escorting him towards confidence)MINUTE 48: NEEDED KNOWLEDGE
Shifu tells Po he must defeat Tai LungMINUTE 49: FOREBODING FACT
Shifu tells Po he will change him into The Dragon WarriorMINUTE 50: THE PORTENT
Shifu doesn’t know how he’s going to change pudgy Po into The Dragon WarriorMINUTE 51: THE ENGAGE
Tigress wonders why Viper, Mantis and Monkey are following her. They are going with her to fight Tai LungMINUTE 52: SAY UNCLE
Embarrassed Po admits to Shifu that he eats when he’s upset MINUTE 53: THE INTIMIDATION
Shifu tells Po: “Come with me.” Po obeys MINUTE 54: THE LIGHTBULB
Po realizes he is at the birthplace of Kung Fu! MINUTE 55: SIDESWIPE
Shifu convinces Po that he will, indeed, teach him Kung Fu! MINUTE 56: DARK TWIST CHAT
Shifu tells Po he is free to eat, but then he swipes Po’s food (15 seconds later in this case) MINUTE 57: DIFFICULT WORDS
Shifu: You are free to eat!” Po: “Am I?” MINUTE 58: VITAL EVENT
Po defeats Shifu for the dumpling MINUTE 59: THE DECEPTION
Tigress pretends she’s The Dragon Warrior MINUTE 60: THE SHOCKER
Tigress falls!

Did you know that the wildly successful KUNG FU PANDA (which raked in over a billion dollars for both movies) hits every one of the SOMETHING STARTLING HAPPENS story beats? All successful stories do. Thought I'd share them with you:

MINUTE 1: ATTENSION!
The hero is threatened inside a restaurant MINUTE 2: THE BUILD
The hero fights thousands of foes MINUTE 3: THE RATCHET
Turns out he’s not a hero after all—he’s just an overweight pandaMINUTE 4: ANOTHER NOTCH
Po’s father wants him to take over the restaurant, but Panda doesn’t want toMINUTE 5: JAW DROPPER
We see an old turtle levitating on a staff, a jaw-dropping sight!MINUTE 6: FRIEND OR FIST
Shifu meet his old friend, Master Oogway, in the temple (Friend)MINUTE 7: FRIEND OR FIST 2
Shifu argues with Master Oogway about what to do about Tai Lung (Fist)MINUTE 8: SOMETHING STARTLING HAPPENS
The gong sounds! Master Oogway is choosing The Dragon Warrior today!MINUTE 9: THE PURSUIT
Po heads towards the temple to see who they will chooseMINUTE 10: THE DISCUSSION
Shifu and Master Oogway discuss this historic dayMINUTE 11: THE WARNING

Oogway warns grumpy Shifu that whoever wins will bring peace to himMINUTE 12: HARSHER WARNING
“Citizens, you have not seen anything yet!” A warning to Po that he better find a way inside MINUTE 13: THE SUBMISSION
Po falls onto his back and lays there, stunnedMINUTE 14: DANGER WATCH
Po sees his father approaching
Seated Po watches the fuse close in on the fireworksMINUTE 15: WHEW, THAT WAS CLOSE!
Po survives the great fallMINUTE 16: THE BIG CONCERN
Master Oogway chooses Po to be Dragon Master, which causes great concern!MINUTE 17: WORLD UPSIDE DOWN
Commander Vachir intimidates ZengMINUTE 18: TROUBLE TURN
Commander Vachir takes Zeng deep into the prison to see Tai LungMINUTE 19: THE THREAT
Tai Lung’s wakes upMINUTE 20: PUSH BACK
Po says, “There’s been a slight mistake”MINUTE 21: THE GREAT AFFECT
Shifu tells Po he won’t become The Dragon Warrior unless he learns the secret of The Dragon ScrollMINUTE 22: TRUTH DECLARED
“You’re going to wish {Master Oogway} hadn’t {chosen you},” Shifu tells PoMINUTE 23: SCARY STUFF
A piece of wood strikes Po’s faceMINUTE 24: SCARY STUFF 2
Shifu asks Po to show The Furious Five what he can doMINUTE 25: SCARY STUFF 3
The training equipment batters PoMINUTE 26: THE BIG UNEXPECTED
The training course severely burns PoMINUTE 27: THE MINI-QUEST
Po tries to sneak down the hallMINUTE 28: BIG QUEST PREP
Po talks with Crane (trying to become friends for upcoming training)MINUTE 29: BIG QUEST PREP 2
Po speaks with Tigress (trying to become friends for upcoming training)MINUTE 30: THE NEED
Po needs to learn not to be a quitterMINUTE 31: DISTRESS SIGNAL
Commander Vachir and Zeng see Tai Lung escaping!MINUTE 32: ANXIETY AMP
Zeng sees that Tai Lung can’t be contained!MINUTE 33: OMINOUS OH NO!
Tai Lung easily defeats Commander Vachi’s guardsMINUTE 34: FRIEND AFFECT
Commander Vachi’s actions affect Zeng’s missionMINUTE 35: BAIT & SWITCH
It seems like they have defeated Tai Lung, but he climbs up the falling debrisMINUTE 36: HIDE & SEEK
Shifu enters Po’s bedroom, but he’s not there. Where is he?MINUTE 37: OVER HIS HEAD
The Furious Five beat up Po—he’s way over his head during trainingMINUTE 38: POSITIVE RECONNECT
The Furious Five notice that Po is not quittingMINUTE 39: NEW JOURNEY BOND
Po, Mantis and Viper bond with Po during acupunctureMINUTE 40: ALLY’S WORLD
We see a flashback of a once-nice Shifu training young Tai lungMINUTE 41: THORNY ROSE
Shifu loved Tai Lung, but Tai Lung turned badMINUTE 42: SURPRISE REVEAL
Mantis reveals that he may have stopped Po’s heart MINUTE 43: SURPRISE REVEAL 2
Master Oogway tells Shifu he will not fulfill his destiny unless he lets go of “the illusion of control”MINUTE 44: NEW NEWS
Master Oogway tells Shifu he “needs belief”MINUTE 45: OUT OF THE ORDINARY
Master Oogway dies and leaves the templeMINUTE 46: THE REVELATION
The Furious Five realize that Po is an incredible cookMINUTE 47: THE ESCORT
The Furious Five laugh at Po’s jokes (escorting him towards confidence)MINUTE 48: NEEDED KNOWLEDGE
Shifu tells Po he must defeat Tai LungMINUTE 49: FOREBODING FACT
Shifu tells Po he will change him into The Dragon WarriorMINUTE 50: THE PORTENT
Shifu doesn’t know how he’s going to change pudgy Po into The Dragon WarriorMINUTE 51: THE ENGAGE
Tigress wonders why Viper, Mantis and Monkey are following her. They are going with her to fight Tai LungMINUTE 52: SAY UNCLE
Embarrassed Po admits to Shifu that he eats when he’s upset MINUTE 53: THE INTIMIDATION
Shifu tells Po: “Come with me.” Po obeys MINUTE 54: THE LIGHTBULB
Po realizes he is at the birthplace of Kung Fu! MINUTE 55: SIDESWIPE
Shifu convinces Po that he will, indeed, teach him Kung Fu! MINUTE 56: DARK TWIST CHAT
Shifu tells Po he is free to eat, but then he swipes Po’s food (15 seconds later in this case) MINUTE 57: DIFFICULT WORDS
Shifu: You are free to eat!” Po: “Am I?” MINUTE 58: VITAL EVENT
Po defeats Shifu for the dumpling MINUTE 59: THE DECEPTION
Tigress pretends she’s The Dragon Warrior MINUTE 60: THE SHOCKER
Tigress falls!

About Me

Writer and producer, Todd Klick, is the #1 bestselling author of Something Startling Happens: The 120 Story Beats Every Writer Needs to Know and The Screenwriter's Fairy Tale. Todd's stories earned accolades with the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship and the PAGE International screenwriting competitions. In addition to optioning 5 scripts, he recently sold a full-length screenplay and inked two deals to develop stories for the London and Broadway stages with music mogul, Guy Holmes (Cirque Du Soleil/Beatles' LOVE) and Motown songwriting legend Lamont Dozier, as well as Maurice White's Kalimba Productions (founder of Earth, Wind and Fire). Todd is a frequent speaker and guest panelist at screenwriting symposiums, contributor to The Huffington Post and MovieMaker Magazine, and has also appeared on Dateline NBC and NPR to promote his work. www.toddklick.com